Märta's research concerns risk and desistance factors for persistent aggressive antisocial behaviors, evidence-based practice in forensic settings, forensic neuroscience, and development and evaluation of assessment and treatment methods in forensic and psychiatric settings. Her emphasis is on applied research that may provide knowledge needed for the prevention, assesment and treatment of mental disorders and aggressive antisocial behaviors.

Märta is PI of a large research programme, FORevidence, funded by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare. FORevidence seeks to provide a basis for the development of evidence-based practice in Swedish forensic psychiatry through pursuing four main aims: 1) Determine important areas for intervention, 2) Clarify preconditions for, importance and implications of user involvement, 3) Develop, adapt and evaluate treatment methods for forensic psychiatry, and 4) Initiate a national platform for transdisciplinary forensic psychiatric research in Sweden. FORevidence is built on transdisciplinary, national and international collaborations, and operates through 10 sub projects with eight project PIs.

Märta is also PI of a project on a cohort of forensic psychiatric patients from a large, high security hospital, investigating self-directed and overt aggression in forensic psychiatric patients (PhD student Natalie Laporte). She is also PI of a project on neurophysiological markers for overt aggression and externalizing behaviors and disorders (PhD student Carl Delfin), a project on diagnostic stability in forensic psychiatric patients, a project on collaborative violence risk management (PhD student Johan Berlin) and a project on development and evaluation of assessment and treatment methods using Virtual Reality in forensic settings (PhD student Fernando Gonzalez Moraga, Post doc Kristina Sygel).

As collaborating researcher, Märta is involved in a large multicenter study, the Development of Aggressive Antisocial Behavior Study (DAABS), which studies the development of persistent aggressive antisocial behaviors over the lifetime and the development of mental illness in offenders. Märta is also involved in research on person-centered care in forensic psychiatry (PI Ulrica Hörberg & Mikael Rask), women in forensic psychiatry (PI Mikael Rask & Ulrica Hörberg), assessment and treatment of substance use disorders in forensic psychiatry (PI Malin Hildebrand Karlén), disinhibition and alcohol use (PI Malin Björnsdotter Åberg) and evaluation of Dialectical Behavior Therapy for individuals with cognitive deficits and challenging behaviors (PI Sofie Westling).  

Märta is dedicated to make research available for patients, their loved-ones, clinicians, and the general society.

Märta har mångårig erfarenhet av att arbeta som psykolog inom kriminalvård och rättspsykiatri med personer med våldsamt och kriminellt beteende, ofta i kombination med olika former av svår psykisk ohälsa och sociala problem. Hon har alltid varit engagerad i metodutveckling och har bl.a. utvecklat en metod för kombinerad våldsriskscreening och riskhantering samt implementerat en strukturerad riskhanteringsplan för hantering av våldsrisk hos patienter inom rättspsykiatrin i Region Skåne och Region Kronoberg. Märta har även översatt metoder från engelska till svenska, såsom en manual för bedömning av skyddsfaktorer mot våldsbrott, SAPROF, ett självrapporteringsinstrument av externaliserande beteenden och ohälsa, Externalizing Spectrum Inventory - Brief Form och en behandlingsmanual för behandling av aggression med stöd av Virtual Reality (Virtual Reality Aggression Prevention Training).

Märta är en flitigt anlitad föreläsare åt bl.a. universitet, sjukvården, polisen, socialtjänsten och skolverksamheter inom områdena psykisk ohälsa, våld och kriminalitet samt preventiva insatser.